In what era did method acting rise to prominence in American cinema?

Method acting gained significant prominence in American cinema during the 1950s, primarily due to the influence of acting schools like the Actors Studio and notable figures such as Marlon Brando, James Dean, and later, method-trained actors such as Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. This approach emphasized personal experience and emotional memory to create more authentic and relatable performances.

By the 1950s, films began to reflect this intense style, moving away from the more theatrical performances that characterized earlier decades. The success of method actors in critically acclaimed films helped to solidify this technique as a dominant form of acting in Hollywood. This era produced iconic films such as "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "East of Eden," showcasing the powerful emotional depth that method acting brought to characters and narratives. While method acting certainly continued to evolve and influence later decades, its rise to prominence is most notably marked in the 1950s.